Only one cook in this kitchen

I forgot the butter

In 7th grade I took home economics, or Home Ec, for those old enough to remember this class. It was either Home Ec or Wood Shop, and back then girls didn’t take Shop, because, well sexism. Part of me wishes I had insisted, since your girl LOVES me a power tool, but instead I filled my role of dutiful future wife and learned how to sew and bake. The sewing was actually very helpful, but the baking…not so much. But I didn’t know that at the time.

I was excited to use my skills and decided for Thanksgiving dinner I was going to bake not one, but two desserts (overachiever status unlocked). After all, I had the recipes, so how hard could it be? I planned on an apple pie and a chocolate cream pie.  

The first sign that things weren’t going to go my way was when I put the whipped cream on the “not quite cooled” chocolate pie and it immediately liquefied. And when it did cool, I tried again with the same results. (#fail)

Then I proudly brought out the apple pie and attempted to cut into it, only to discover the crust was hard as a rock. I realized I’d forgotten to add butter to the crust. Butter! Like, one of the main ingredients. My family, or shall I say my cousin in particular, never let me live it down and I shied away from baking for decades afterwards.

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But let’s talk about cooking…

While I was scarred (kind of) from baking, I needed to cook, because, well sustenance. And as the years progressed I found I really loved cooking and was quite good at it. With cooking I could take risks, experiment and try different flavors and foods. Cooking allowed for freedom and flexibility. Sure you can follow a recipe, but you don’t have to. And that, to me, is the core difference between cooking and baking. With baking if you deviate from a recipe there’s a big chance things will go wrong.

Baking is about precision. Measurement. Perfection.

But cooking allows you to just add a bit here, remove a bit there, substitute a thing here.

Cooking is about trial and error.

Cooking rewards creativity, whereas baking often punishes it. (Bakers don’t come at me. I know when you’re a great baker you understand how to play around, but it’s a much more rigid discipline overall.)

Baking is the same ingredients and the same result for everyone. One recipe, one outcome.

But cooking is about putting your own unique spin on things.

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Cook up your story

Cooking is similar to how we approach our stories. Cooking allows everyone to be different. To add their own preferences, their own flavors, their own spices. And you can change it up whenever you want. You’re not baked into anything (sorry).

You have the freedom to add or remove things from your story as you wish. Feeling like you want some more flavor? Add some spice. Feeling like you need to tone it down, remove the excess.

We’re all cooks in this kitchen of life. And just like a meal, you get to determine what your story is whenever you want to share it.

You get to determine at any point in your life how much seasoning you want to use and which ones.

It’s not about a fixed recipe that never changes and gets handed down over time from one person to another.

It’s about how that recipe evolves and changes with each subsequent preparation.

It’s about how you experiment and find what works for you.

And if you’re not sure what ingredients to use, I’d love to help!

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Speaking of cooking

I’m cooking up a very cool challenge for LinkedIn that’s going to take place in June. I’ll be running this challenge with career coach, Karen Worthy, and everyone who joins us will get 10 days of tips, coaching, support and a private community to boost your LinkedIn profile and land your next gig. Doors aren’t open yet, but join the waiting list to be the first to get notified and take advantage of early bird pricing.

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ICYMI

I’m starting a new section where I highlight my most commented on recent posts in case you missed them. I always LOVE when people reply to a newsletter or comment on LinkedIn to tell me how much a certain message resonated with them. Or in the case of my last post, sending me shopping links to their favorites!

In my Palazzo Era - getting comfy with aging

Making friends as an adult - so I guess we’re friends now

Not wishing people well - I don’t hope you’re well

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If you enjoy my content, have attended a free workshop, or simply want to do something nice, feel free to buy me a coffee (or glass or two of wine).